What are the advantages and disadvantages for telework companies?

Currently, due to work style reforms and the spread of new coronavirus infections, an increasing number of companies are adopting or considering introducing a telework system.

In November 2020, the telework implementation rate for companies with more than 10,000 employees exceeded 45%.
This time, we will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of companies that adopt a telework system, as well as tools that help solve the disadvantages.

What is telework?

Telework is a coined word that combines “tele” and “work.” In the sense of working away from the office, it is a work style that allows you to work flexibly without being constrained by location or time using information and communication technology.

Advantages of companies introducing telework

Supporting a balance between private life and work and securing diverse human resources

By adopting a telework system, it is possible to employ excellent human resources who could not work due to geographical conditions, health reasons, etc. when traveling to work.

In addition, employees can reduce their commuting time entirely, making it easier to balance childcare and nursing care. As a result, the work-life balance of employees can be improved, reducing the number of workers leaving and expanding the diversity of new human resources.

Reduce employee commuting costs and office maintenance costs

By introducing telework, employees will no longer have to pay commuting allowances, and expenses such as lighting and air conditioning can be significantly reduced.

In addition, if the company or department allows continuous teleworking, tenant fees can be reduced by moving to the minimum required office size.

Ensure business continuity

BCP (Business Continuity Plan) is an abbreviation of “Business Continuity Plan” and means a business continuity plan.
A business continuity plan is a plan for minimizing damage when a company encounters an emergency such as a natural disaster, while continuing or restoring business.

By preparing a telework system from now on, even if it becomes impossible to go to work due to a disaster or fire, you can continue your business using telework.

Improving corporate brand and image

By introducing telework, it is possible to work while raising children or nursing care, and the brand image of the public and job seekers as a company that is taking advanced initiatives will be improved.

Disadvantages of companies introducing telework

Attendance management of telework employees is difficult

Even with telework, the company needs to know when employees come and go.

The main information to be grasped in attendance management is working hours such as arrival and departure times, overtime work, late-night work, holiday work hours, attendance days, absence days, etc. All of this can be done manually even if it is not telework. It is difficult to manage.

Poor team communication

One of the biggest challenges of telework is the difficulty of team communication.

When coming to work, it becomes difficult to hear things that were easy to hear, and it becomes difficult to grasp the progress of team members.

However, these problems can be solved and improved by introducing tools.
We will introduce by genre of attendance management, web conference, business chat, and in-house SNS.

Attendance management tool that can be started for free

job can

It is a cloud-based system that is easy to use because it is equipped with the functions necessary for attendance management work and has simple operability.

feature

• You can make detailed settings and operations for each type of work, such as variable work, flextime, and discretionary work, as well as for each department and employment type.
• Only necessary functions can be freely combined and used

price

• Free plan: Limited functionality
• Paid plan: 200 yen/month per user for 1 function, 300 yen/month for 2 functions, 400 yen/month for 3 functions, 500 yen/month for 4 functions
• Paid plans also have a 30-day free trial

IEYASU attendance management

It is a free attendance management system filled with professional know-how of personnel and labor that has been cultivated through support experience of more than 1000 companies.

feature

• completely free
• You can visualize the daily clocking history and monthly attendance record with reports and graphs.
• Realization of a simple and easy-to-use system by scrutinizing the functions required by venture companies by experts in personnel affairs

price

• free

F-Chair＋

It is a work style reform support tool that can simultaneously manage working hours and “what you are doing”.

feature

• 1 month free trial available
• Easy to use with one-click time recording
• The automatic shooting function of the work screen keeps employees feeling tense
• Since working hours are displayed in a time bar format, changes in one month and bias within the group can be seen at a glance.

price

1-10 people 10,000 yen/month 11-20
people 20,000 yen/month 21-30
people 30,000 yen/month
31-50 people 45,000 yen/month 51-100
people 80,000 yen/ month Moon

Web conferencing tool that can be started for free

Zoom

Video conferencing and messaging made easy on any device. Even with the free plan, you can use encryption, set operation permissions by role, passcode protection, waiting room, etc. to ensure a secure meeting space.
For communication between teams, the free basic plan is sufficient.

feature

• HD video and high quality audio
• Make meetings more fun with filters, reactions, polls, music and video sharing
• Meetings can be recorded locally or in the cloud
• Chat function

price

• Basic plan: Free
• Pro: Great for small teams, ¥2,000 /month/license
• Business: SME ¥2,700 /month/license
• ZOOM UNITED Business: ¥4,710 /month/license

V-CUBE meeting

It is a high-quality cloud-based service that boasts HD compatible video and high connectivity that can be used in various environments such as PCs and mobiles.

feature

• Free trial available
• Simple interface and easy operation
• Full multilingual support and English support, real-time translation for foreign language meetings
• You can easily join a meeting with just a browser without installing a dedicated application.

price

• Inquiry required

Free business chat tool

JANDI

It is a cloud communication tool that realizes improvement of employee engagement that makes it feel as if colleagues who are active in various places such as each office, on the go, and at home are working together in the same place.
Eliminate the need for emails, easily communicate, share files, and review feedback.

feature

• Enterprise plan free trial for up to 60 days
• Requirements you want to discuss can be executed immediately in “Chat” & “Topic”
• On-screen pop-up notifications and mentions help reduce oversights

price

• Free plan: Free
• Premium plan: ¥400/month per user
• Enterprise plan: ¥800/month per user

Topic Room

It is a business chat that changes the way you work, even in telework, which is used in various scenes such as IT, local governments, finance, and medical care.
Rather than just a chat, by cutting out the exchanges and organizing them as “topics”, you can complete the information organization such as document creation and idea creation.

feature

• 30 days free trial
• Visualize the total number of posts and the number of posts for each group
• By creating an open room in which people can participate and leave freely in addition to the regular room, it is possible to promote open projects in which volunteer members are recruited from within the company.
• Chatbot integration
• Smooth exporting of messages and topics and organizing them into a uniform shape

price

• Business [Plan specializing in improving communication efficiency] 300 yen/person/month, initial cost 0 yen, customer dedicated environment usage fee 0 yen
• Enterprise [Plan for extended usage with API linkage while ensuring higher security] 300 yen/person/month, initial cost 50,000 yen, customer-dedicated environment usage fee 30,000 yen/month

Team On

You can realize schedule adjustment, task management, group chat, and file sharing ideal for telework and small and medium-sized enterprises with this one.

feature

• 15 days free trial
• Multi-language and multi-device support
• Team members’ schedules at a glance
• It is possible to share web schedules not only within the company but also with business partners.

price

• Business 5: 980 yen per month (tax included)
• Business 10: 1,800 yen per month (tax included)
• Business 20: 3,000 yen per month (tax included)

In-house SNS tool that can be started for free

Good job!

An internal communication tool that increases employee engagement. With the timeline function, you can also grasp the events of the whole company, department, and project, so you can understand each other’s situation well and share what is happening in the company and where the company is headed from now on.
The point is that thanks cards (message cards sent between employees to express gratitude and praise), which were generally used on paper until now, can be easily used on the web and smartphone apps.

feature

• 1 month free trial
• The points you receive are converted into company currency and can be exchanged for various prizes and benefits.
• Administrators can check usage status and follow up individually
• PC browser version and smartphone app version available

price

• Initial cost / system usage fee 0 yen + 1 user monthly usage fee 500 yen

TE N WA

In addition to activating communication, it also leads to motivation and mental health care.

feature

• 30 days free trial
• Displays data for the past 30 days, such as the number of “thank you” and “like” stamps sent and received, as well as the number of people and time spent talking.
• Not only talk but also task management
• Thorough after-sales support because of in-house development

price

• Basic plan initial cost 0 yen + 1 user 248 yen / month (free for the first month)

summary

There are many advantages of telework, and problems that could be disadvantages can be solved by introducing tools.
First, try the free trial and free tools to achieve comfortable telework.